


Choose Me

by Brandella



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), avengers endgame - Fandom
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Endgame Fix-It, M/M, One Shot, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-08 14:21:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18625021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brandella/pseuds/Brandella
Summary: I can't say too much because I don't want to give away spoilers. This is set at the very end of Endgame because I had, um, feelings about the end.*****Endgame Spoilers People!*********





	Choose Me

It was now or never. 

The idiot was about to leave and Bucky knew exactly what was going to happen if he did.

Sam didn’t. It was clear to Bucky that while Sam had grown close with Steve, he still didn’t understand him as well as Bucky did. He hadn’t learned all of Steve’s tells the way Bucky had over the years.

No, like everyone else, Sam believed the pretty lie. Captain America was always strong, always ready to fight, always ready to sacrifice everything for the greater good.

But Bucky saw the truth. Something had happened to Steve while Bucky and Sam had been gone. Dead? It was still hard for him to wrap his head around what had happened, but what he did know was that Steve wasn’t ok. He’d known it from the moment he’d laid eyes on him.

When he looked into Steve’s eyes, he saw a broken man. Where there was once a vibrant spirit bursting with life, he now saw listlessness and uncertainty.

Whatever had happened to his friend while Bucky had been away had left Steve empty inside. And now he was going to do something incredibly stupid if Bucky didn’t stop him.

“Wait.” Bucky put a hand on Steve’s arm to stop him from climbing onto the platform.

Steve’s eyebrows drew together into a confused frown. They’d already said their goodbyes, so Steve probably thought there was nothing left to say. He was wrong.

Now or never, Barnes. If you don’t do this you’ll be a stupid as you claim he is.

He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. Bucky Barnes was a lot of things, but stupid wasn’t one of them.

“Choose me.”

There. He said it. It was the hardest two words he’d ever had to say in his life, but he’d managed to get them out.

Unfortunately, from the confused look on Steve’s face, he was going to have to elaborate.

“I know you think she’s your only option, but she’s not.”

“Buddy,” Sam butted in. “I think you’ve got some wires crossed. Steve’s going alone. There’s no she here.”

Bucky rolled his eyes impatiently and ignored Sam. The man was smart, he’d catch up in a minute.

“Buck.” For a second, life flared behind Steve’s eyes. Then he lowered his lids and a pained expression crossed his face. “I’m not…”

“Cut the crap, Rogers. You and I both know what you’re about to do and I…” Bucky steeled himself. The emotions thing was still hard for him. He’d been a soulless machine for too long and now he had to relearn how to be a feeling creature again. He’d been on his way before the snap, but he still had a long way to go. “I want to go with you. I want you to pick me.”

Eyes on the ground, Steve asked, “Why?” At Bucky’s sharp intake of air, Steve looked up and paled at whatever he saw on Bucky’s face. He continued quickly. “Why would you even bother with me after what I let happen?”

“Because it wasn’t your fault, idiot.” Bucky said at the same time that Sam said, “Man, really? You’re going to take the blame for that mess on your shoulders too?”

Bucky shared a look with Sam, one they’d had plenty of practice sharing over their short acquaintance. It roughly translated to a mix of, Can you believe this guy? And What did we do to deserve this shit?

Steve froze, looking back and forth between his two friends. “Can you think of someone else who deserves it more?”

“I don’t know, how about Thanos?” Bruce piped up from the control panel, not looking up from his work. 

“Seriously. That’s some grade A victim blaming shit you got going on there, Steve. You know better than that.” Sam sighed and shook his head.

Once again, Bucky understood Steve better. It didn’t matter how many therapy sessions the man had. He was always going to take the weight of the world’s problems on his shoulders. And Bucky would always be there to help him carry the burden. 

Or at least he would if Steve let him.

He cleared his throat and tried once more to do the emotions thing. “I know you miss her, Steve. I do too. She was one hell of a dame, but she had a life. A good one too, if what Sharon told me was true. Let her keep that. I know I’m not her, but…”

Steve cut him off. “You think I want Peggy more than I want you?” His voice was rough and his eyes flashed.

“I know you do pal, and it’s ok—”

Steve stormed up to Bucky and took his chin in one hand. Bucky froze and told himself to allow the contact. He was still a bit dicey on unexpected touching, but he would always make an exception for Steve.

“I was going to be with Peggy to give you a chance at something normal for once. I saw your face right before the fight at Wakanda. You were miserable. You don’t like fighting and I can’t seem to keep away from it. I thought if I went to Peggy, I’d be able to be with someone who cares about me and can hold her own in a fight without it destroying her.” Steve rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the grass at his feet. “I can’t keep doing this to you, but I can't be alone anymore.” The last part came out ragged and raw. Steve looked utterly broken.

Bucky’s heart was trying to beat its way out of his chest. It almost sounded like Steve wanted to stay with him, but he was afraid to believe it so quickly. 

Sure he had planned on spilling his guts before Steve left, but he hadn’t expected it to actually make a difference. He’d just thought he’d better do it so he didn’t end up regretting not doing so for the rest of his life.

“Steve.” He paused, unsure of what to say. It was true, Bucky wasn’t stable enough to continue fighting a stream of never-ending battles at the moment, but he’d be damned if he’d let Steve sacrifice himself again. Bucky would do it. He’d find some way to make himself be ok enough to stay be Steve’s side. “You leaving to spend your life with Peggy would destroy me a lot more than you letting me come with you on your mission.” His voice was whisper soft, but he knew Steve could hear him.

“I can’t let you do this.”

“What makes you think you can stop me?” Part of Bucky howled at him knowing what he was signing on for, but the rest of him knew it would be madness for him to let Steve go.

“Buck, how am I supposed to… be that selfish?” Steve murmured but closed in the distance to Bucky’s face, inch by inch.

Bucky knew he had him. It had been a long time, more decades than he could count, but he knew what it looked like when Steve Rogers was about to break down and kiss him.

When Steve’s lips met his, he felt his entire body sigh. It was as if he’d been holding his breath since he’d fallen off that train and now he was free to breathe again. He leaned in, hungry for more when they were interrupted by a loud ZAP.

They both turned to look at the platform in time to see Sam vanish. They both gaped at the spot until another loud ZAP heralded his return five seconds later.

Sam popped his helmet open and gave them both a grin. “I got sick of waiting for you two to figure things out and thought I’d take matters into my own hands.”

Steve released Bucky and sprinted to the top of the platform, throwing his arms around Sam. “Are you ok?”

“Better than I would be if I had to watch you two make out.”

“Sucks to be you, pal,” Bucky said, striding up to join them on the platform. “You’re gonna be seeing a lot of it from now on.”

Steve grinned and nodded. “What he said.”

“So I was thinking, while I was away being awesome and saving the universe - I think I’d look pretty good in your suit, Cap. Why don’t you let me borrow it for a year or so?”

Steve looked at Sam in surprise as understanding dawned on his face. “You’d do that for me? For us?”

“Hell yeah, man. Besides, we all know my ass is better suited to be America’s ass.”

Sacrilege. Sam's shit-eating grin deserved a punch, but Bucky couldn't find it in himself to give it to the man. Not today. After the gift he'd given them, he figured he could wait at least a day.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading my fic! I had to write this or I was gonna explode! That ending did NOT work for me, so I had to make it better. I still have a lot of feelings about the whole thing, so I made a Facebook group called the Stucky Endgame Support Group. I'd love it if you'd join me there!


End file.
